Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.

A protégé of Quincy Jones, who took him under his wing when he defected to the U.S. in 2009, pianist Alfredo Rodriguez was schooled in the rigorous classical conservatories of Havana. His riveting artistry is informed as much by Bach and Stravinsky as it is by his Afro Cuban and jazz roots. Percussionist and vocalist Pedrito Martinez’s training came directly from the streets of the Cayo Hueso neighborhood of Old Havana in which he was raised, and has subsequently performed with artists such as Sting, Paul Simon and Wynton Marsalis. The two Grammy-nominated artists first worked together in 2012 on Alfredo’s release, “The Invasion Parade.” Since then they have had the rare occasion to perform as a duo, leaving audiences mesmerized by their fearless and virtuosic playing. These two master musicians take listeners on a unique and exciting journey on their new disc, “Duologue.”

     In the summer of 2015, a grueling and often bewildering four-year battle with a rare cancer had the acclaimed pianist and composer Michael Wolff on the ropes. He’d fallen into a coma at a New York hospital, and the prognosis had moved from doubtful to defeated. At one point, as he was being cared for by his wife, a doctor asked her if she’d signed a Do Not Resuscitate order. Through the haze of drugs and debilitating illness, Wolff interjected. Lifting up his head, he growled, “Resuscitate me!” “I guess it just wasn’t my time,” he recalls today, chuckling. Now 66 and completely healthy, Wolff has seen his personal and creative outlook transformed in the profound way that occurs only in those who have been, as Wolff puts it, “to the brink and back.” His radiant new piano trio album, “Swirl,” features bassist Ben Allison and drummer Allan Mednard, and was recorded live in the audiophile-worthy environs of the Yamaha piano salon in Manhattan.

Also this week, the Ernie Watts Quartet, together now for eighteen years, unveils its latest work, “Home Light”;

Singer Cyrille Aimee takes a deep dive into the Stephen Sondheim songbook for her scintillating new album, “Move On: a Sondheim Adventure”;

and cultural influences from Brazil, India and Africa to Bali, Cuba and Puerto Rico are reflected in vibraphonist Ted Piltzecker’s new CD, “Brindica.”

      Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.

Juno Award-winning saxophonist, composer and arranger Allison Au was born to a Chinese father and Jewish mother, and was raised in the multicultural metropolis of Toronto. Exposed to a wide array of musical styles growing up, Allison was captivated by the unhinged freedom of jazz, which became her lab of self-expression, exploration and musical experimentations. Her work weaves a mosaic of influences into a concoction steeped in the jazz tradition but skillfully laced with elements of classical, pop, R&B/hip hop, Latin and world music. Following on the heels of her 2016 Juno Award win for Best Jazz Album of the Year, the Allison Au Quintet releases its highly anticipated third studio album, “Wander Wonder.”

     Impulse! Records has brought together some of the great progressive jazz musicians of our time to pay tribute to the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” As label president Danny Bennet explains, “This recording showcases the most meaningful up-and-coming and established artists that are taking the new jazz scene by storm. Each was given the challenge to create a work that would push the musical envelope by presenting an impressionistic rendering of a favorite song from Pepper.” “A Day in the Life: Impressions of Pepper” includes performances by saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings from the UK jazz scene, Miles Mosley and Cameron Graves from L.A.’s West Coast Get Down, Onyx Collective from N.Y.C., Makaya McCraven and JuJu Exchange from Chicago, pianist Sullivan Fortner, percussionist Antonio Sanchez and guitarist Mary Halvorson.

 Dan Bonsanti’s The 14 Jazz Orchestra, comprised of alumni from the University of Miami who are all active in South Florida as jazz and studio musicians and/or important educators, releases “The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be”;

Also this week, veteran Seattle bassist Chuck Deardorf brings together longtime musical friends Dawn Clement on piano, saxophonist Hans Teuber, and drummer Matt Wilson for “Perception”;

and the Colorado-based David Caffey Jazz Orchestra offers up “All in One.”